HVAC Control Boards

Over the past few years, the electromechanical HVAC control market has undergone a rapid overhaul, turning to electronics to meet the demands of both providers and consumers. The adoption of electronic components enables HVAC providers to take advantage of new technologies to implement sophisticated capabilities, Electronic microcontroller based HVAC boards provided a lot of options, modes and diagnostic functions In the next few papers we will discus some of the building blocks of the control board Figure 1 shows the main block diagram of the control board
Transistors,Shift registers Keypad and Outdoor,indoor,room sensors Input Interfacing Relays and display Output Interfacing components

Microcontroller

Inputs

components

Power supply +12V, +5V

Figure 1 HVAC control board block diagram The microcontroller controls the outputs according to the inputs received from the User by the keypad and the remote handset Or the three temperature sensors measuring the room ,outdoor coil, indoor coil temperature respectively The outputs in our system are The output relays controlling the compressor, indoor fan, outdoor fan, 4 way valve, swing. .etc The display showing the room temperature and the mode selected The microcontroller needs 5 V DC to be on, So we must convert 220V AC to D C Volt and reduce this volt so we use power supply to obtain 5 Volt DC.

Supply

Power

Outputs

Types of Power Supply

There are many types of power supply. Most are designed to convert high voltage AC mains electricity to a suitable low voltage supply for electronics circuits and other devices. A power supply can by broken down into a series of blocks, each of which performs a particular function. 5V power supply:

Each of the blocks is described in more detail below:

Transformer - steps down high voltage AC mains to low voltage AC. Rectifier - converts AC to DC, but the DC output is varying. Smoothing - smoothes the DC from varying greatly to a small ripple. Regulator- eliminates ripple by setting DC output to a fixed voltage.

Power supplies made from these blocks are described below with a circuit diagram and a graph of their output:

Transformer only Transformer + Rectifier Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing + Regulator

Transformer only

The low voltage AC output is suitable for lamps, heaters and special AC motors. It is not suitable for electronic circuits ( I.C., Transistor) unless they include a rectifier and a smoothing capacitor.

Transformer + Rectifier

The varying DC output is suitable for lamps, heaters and standard motors. It is not suitable for electronic circuits unless they include a smoothing capacitor.

Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing Capacitor

The smooth DC output has a small ripple. It is suitable for most electronic circuits.

Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing Capacitor + Regulator

The regulated DC output is very smooth with no ripple. It is suitable for all electronic circuits.

Transformer

Transformers convert AC electricity from one voltage to another with little loss of power. Transformers work only with AC and this is 220V one of the reasons why mains electricity is AC. AC Step-up transformers increase voltage, step-down transformers reduce voltage. Most power supplies use a step-down transformer to reduce the dangerously high mains voltage (220-230V) to a safer low voltage.

12V

Transformer circuit symbol

The input coil is called the primary and the output coil is called the secondary. There is no electrical connection between the two coils, instead they are linked by an alternating magnetic field created in the soft-iron core of the transformer. The two lines in the middle of the circuit symbol represent the core. Transformers waste very little power so the power out is (almost) equal to the power in. Note that as voltage is stepped down current is stepped up.

Rectifier
There are several ways of connecting diodes to make a rectifier to convert AC to DC. The bridge rectifier is the most important and it produces full-wave varying DC. A single diode can be used as a rectifier but it only uses the positive (+) parts of the AC wave to produce half-wave varying DC. Bridge rectifier A bridge rectifier can be made using four individual diodes, but it is also available in special packages containing the four diodes required. It is called a full-wave rectifier because it uses all the AC wave (both positive and negative sections). there are always two diodes conducting, as shown in the diagram below. Bridge rectifiers are rated by the maximum current they can pass and the maximum reverse voltage they can withstand (this must be at least three times the supply RMS voltage so the rectifier can withstand the peak voltage.

Bridge rectifier
Alternate pairs of diodes conduct, changing over the connections so the alternating directions of AC are converted to the one direction of DC.

Output: full-wave varying DC

(using all the AC wave)

Single diode rectifier A single diode can be used as a rectifier but this produces half-wave varying DC which has gaps when the AC is negative. It is hard to smooth this sufficiently well to supply electronic circuits unless they require a very small current so the smoothing capacitor does not significantly discharge during the gaps.

Single diode rectifier

Output: half-wave varying DC

(using only half the AC wave)

Smoothing Capacitor
Smoothing is performed by a large value electrolytic capacitor connected across the DC supply to act as a reservoir, supplying current to the output when the varying DC voltage from the rectifier is falling. The diagram shows the unsmoothed varying DC (dotted line) and the smoothed DC (solid line). The capacitor charges quickly near the peak of the varying DC, and then discharges as it supplies current to the output.

Note that smoothing significantly increases the average DC voltage to almost the peak value (1.4 RMS value). For example 6V RMS AC is rectified to full wave DC of about 4.6V RMS (1.4V is lost in the bridge rectifier), with smoothing this increases to almost the peak value giving 1.4 4.6 = 6.4V smooth DC. Smoothing is not perfect due to the capacitor voltage falling a little as it discharges, giving a small ripple voltage. For many circuits a ripple which is 10% of the supply voltage is satisfactory. A larger capacitor will give less ripple. The capacitor value must be doubled when smoothing half-wave DC.

Regulator

Voltage regulator
Every electronic circuit is designed to operate off of some supply voltage, which is usually assumed to be constant. A voltage regulator provides this constant DC output voltage and contains circuitry that continuously holds the output voltage at the design value regardless of changes in load current or input voltage (this assumes that the load current and input voltage are within the specified operating range for the part).

Voltage regulator ICs are available with fixed (typically 5, 12 and 15V) or variable output voltages. They are also rated by the maximum current they can pass. Negative voltage regulators are available, mainly for use in dual supplies. Most regulators include some automatic protection from excessive current ('overload protection') and overheating ('thermal protection'). Many of the fixed voltage regulator ICs have 3 leads and look like power transistors, such as the 7805 +5V 1A regulator. They include a hole for attaching a heatsink if necessary. Now we have 5 V DC. If connected to Microprocessor it will be on and the software saved in it will start to receive data from receiver and sensors.It send the output order ( signal) to relays or transistors or to any output device.

Microprocessor deals with the inputs an the outputs through some interfacing components One of the important interfacing components is the Transistor

Transistors
Transistors used here are used as switching elements For example the transistors are used by the controller to switch on/off the output relays. The transistor as shown in figure has 3 terminals Base(3): this terminal is controlled by the microcontroller and it consumes few mA to switch between the other 2 terminals collector(2) and the emitter(1)

Types of transistor
2 3 1
Transistor circuit symbols

Q1 NPN transistor

NPN transistor

Relays
Relays are the most famous switching elements used in control systems Figure

NO

NC C

Relay construction Notice in the above diagram that a relay uses an electromagnet. This is a device consisting of a coil of wire wrapped around an iron core. When electricity is applied to the coil of wire it becomes magnetic, hence the term electromagnet. The A B and C terminals are a switch controlled by the electromagnet. When electricity is applied to V1 and V2, the electromagnet acts upon the relay so that the B and C terminals are connected. When the electricity is disconnected, then the A and C terminals are connected.
The relay's switch connections are usually labeled COM, NC and NO:
Circuit symbol for a relay

COM = Common, always connect to this, it is the moving part of the switch. NC = Normally Closed, COM is connected to this when the relay coil is off. NO = Normally Open, COM is connected to this when the relay coil is on. Connect to COM and NO if you want the switched circuit to be on when the relay coil is on. Connect to COM and NC if you want the switched circuit to be on when the relay coil is off.

How to control a relay by microcontroller

12V K1 3 D1 1N4003 R3 REL 4.7K 3 1 2 1 Q1 1815 1 2 RELAY SPS

4 2

Figure 4. Controlling relay by microcontroller

We have to know that relay cant be controlled directly through microcontroller because it consumes current through it is coil more than the capability of the microcontroller so it will damage the microcontroller if its connected directly
So transistor is controlled by the controller to control the relay as shown in figure When logic 1 (5V) is applied from controller on the base of the transistor the transistor is switched on to connect between the emitter and the collector so the ground point is connected to terminal of the relay coil while the other terminal is permanently connected to 12Vdc so the relay will be switched on to connect between point common terminal (4) and the normally open terminal (3)

Protection diodes for relays

Transistors and ICs (chips) must be protected from the brief high voltage 'spike' produced when the relay coil is switched off. The diagram shows how a signal diode (eg 1N4148) is connected across the relay coil to provide this protection. Note that the diode is connected 'backwards' so that it will normally not conduct. Conduction only occurs when the relay coil is switched off, at this moment current tries to continue flowing through the coil and it is harmlessly diverted through the diode. Without the diode no current could flow and the coil would produce a damaging high voltage 'spike' in its attempt to keep the current flowing.

The diode shown in the figure is called free wheeling diode which is used to protect the transistor from what called back EMF which is a high voltage generated by the relay during switching

ULN2003:
This is a famous IC which consists of 7 transistors with the freewheeling diodes and the base resistors, to connect directly between the shift register and the output relays or between the microcontroller and the output relays Its used to minimize the size of the PCB board

ULN2003 Pin out

Temperature sensors:
The most famous temperature sensors used in the HVAC control boards are the NTC thermistor (negative temperature coefficient) NTC is a sensor where its resistance decreases with the increase in the temperature The NTC is connected to the microcontroller to acquire its readings

Display
There are 2 types of display LED It lights up by applying low + voltage at one specified terminal and ground to the other terminal

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Figure 7. 7 segment configuration 7 segment display 7segemts consists of 7 LEDS organized as shown in the figure so that it can display numbers from 0 to 9 PCB Diagram

Fuse

Transformer Rectifier
Varis tor 12V AC Re gulator

Powe r s upply 220V AC

+5V
M icro proce s s or 12V AC

Data from receiver and sensors

O.F. NO NC NO Comp. NC

ULN

+12V Live ( L )

- ev

+12V

- ev

Relay

Relay

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